Time is a Broken Glass
by Saij Spellhart
Summary: After a failed summoning ritual, Atem and Bakura are brought from the past to the present and are dumped on Yugi and Ryou's doorstep. Takes place 5 years after the events of YGO. Puzzleshipping, and Gravityshipping. Lots of S and M. Beware sexual content.
1. Patience and Elated Wisdom

For the sake of overcoming and getting around our own confusion. Edhelwen and I are referring to Yami Marik as Melvin, like from Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. We find it easier to keep track of the characters that way. So Melvin is not an OC he is Yami Marik. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Edhelwen and Myself, do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. This fiction is written purely for entertainment purposes and to satisfy our own perverted fetishes. Yay for S and M! True S and M...

* * *

The heavy suffocating essence of magic filled the air. Its influence so profound and strong that even the weather had changed responding to the dark energies at work. Clouds swirled overhead in a daunting vortex, giving away the location of the magic being conjured. The source of the strong magical aura could be traced back to a laboratory within the confines of Domino University, where a professor worked secretly after hours. Inside the Laboratory candles were lit strategically around the room casting light on various magic circles and runes carved and painted across the floors and walls. Strange incantations filled the air as a dark soul worked to complete his dangerous spell.

Melvin stood amongst his magic paraphernalia dressed in nothing but a sarong, strange ancient Egyptian runes and hieroglyphs painted on his glistening bronze skin. His hair was slicked back from sweat, but still defied gravity by sticking out in its usual many directions. The light of the candles flickered on his sweat shinned skin casting long shadows across his body as the vengeful soul repeated his incantations like a mantra. For hours Melvin had been at work constructing this spell, months of research had been poured into this project and tonight would see the consummation of all his efforts. Revenge finally in his grasp.

Outside the wind howled in response to the heavy amounts of magic. The trees creaked and scratched against the outside windows as if to voice their protest. The magic was unnatural, it would bend the barriers of time and space, and as such was forbidden. But Melvin cared nothing of this. After so long he would attain his revenge on the Pharaoh and that wretched thief along with him. So he continued his efforts, time was against him and Melvin was closing in on the final hour. The incantations and the ritual summons must be completed at the stroke of one for the spell to be activated properly. If he failed he would not get another chance for six months. For tonight it was the shortest day of the year. And the next time the spell could be performed was the longest day of the year, and Melvin refused to wait that long, not when he could accomplish his goal tonight.

Using a paint brush Melvin set to completing the final part of the summoning ritual. He picked up a knife he had siting aside and carefully broke the skin on his arm, watching as his blood oozed from his wound. Without a moments hesitation he applied the blood to the tip of the paint brush and began drawing the final magic circle on the ground. This one was the most important one. He had to get it right. Melvin took a moment to check back to his ancient text, making sure he was writing the right symbols in the correct order. He flipped the page absently and noticed foreign handwriting on the parchment. His mind instantly recognized the messy handwriting of his former host, and light, Malik. Against his better judgement Melvin let himself be distracted by the silly notes the boy had written in the ancient text when he had used it for study many years prior. His silly host was such a bad student and failed time and time again to stay on task, and the random notes in this text bore proof to that. Melvin who as fate would have it became a professor at Domino University found Malik's lack of study ethics amusing and highly ironic.

Melvin was about to continue the transferring of the ancient symbols from paper to floor when his attention was once again drawn to one of Malik's stupid musings, this one said something about Motorcycles. Melvin quite distracted now read to himself, "Bakura groped me. Me of all people! And while on a motorcycle. He must not realize how dangerous that is, and doing someone on a motorcycle sounds extremely uncomfortable. Not that it wouldn't hurt to find out..."

The dark soul tore himself away from the note and shook his head to clear out the images. He grumbled silently to himself as dark thoughts went through his mind. Bakura would suffer, he would make sure of that, He had just been given one more reason to hate that thief, nobody touched his light, nobody. That was forbidden territory. But that needed to wait for now. Melvin scolded himself. First he must finish the spell so he "could" exact his revenge. Realizing his time was running out, Melvin picked up the pace and transfered the last part of the symbols to the floor. He was closing in on the last couple of minutes, so he had to work quickly. Melvin snatched up a scroll he had siting on a counter and went to stand in the middle of his summoning circles. He placed his feet within the confines of a circle written entirely of charcoal. He had all his circles written out in all the right elements. Charcoal, Blood, Water, Soil, Plant oil, carved, and lastly a circle written in sand. All the circles overlapped and combined to make a total of three major circles. And now Melvin had taken his place in one of them.

A grin alighted his features as the dark soul began reading from the scroll in his hands. His voice echoed throughout the room as the magics of the summoning ritual began to take affect. He spoke quickly and clearly pronouncing all the words with care so as to not make any mistakes. As the clock ticked the last seconds until the stroke of one, Melvin finished reciting his incantation and pulled out two strands of hair. One was black with red at the tip and the other was a unnatural white color. The two strands of hair had belonged to the hosts of both the Pharaoh and Bakura. And They were the connection Melvin needed to bring back the former yamis. The dark soul carefully waited until the Other two circles began to glow eerily and then when a pillars of light burst forth from the center of both circles, Melvin tossed each strand into their respective pillars, watching as the magic vaporized the host hair and in response made horrid crackling sounds. The spell was complete, and now Melvin watched as the rush of energy threatened to blow him off his feet.

For several minutes it was all Melvin could do to just squint and watch the pillars of light twist and waver. Then amidst the cylinders of energy two forms began to materialize. And as they materialized the magic circles around the room began to disintegrate and disappear. Both were equally recognizable, one silhouette having familiar spikes of hair that stuck out in a crown around his head, and the other having a shaggy main of spiky hair. By the time all the symbols and runes making up the magic circles had completely disintegrated, and the bodies contained within the pillars of magic had completely formed and with one last belch of power the two silhouettes were released and dropped to the floor just as all the candles around the room suspiciously went out, bathing the room in darkness. And all was silent.

Melvin quite prepared for this outcome and knowing the layout of the room like the back of his hand navigated his way over to one of the walls and flicked the light switch. As if to prove him wrong the light revealed the many symbols painted upon his own skin that he had forgot about including the back of his hand. The point of the symbols on his own body however was to serve as protection. They kept the spell from affecting his own body and from the looks of it they had worked perfectly. He directed his attention back to the middle of the room where the products of his summoning ritual lay crumpled upon the floor. It had been a success. A complete success, before his eyes lay the Pharaoh and Bakura, in their own bodies and plucked straight out of the afterlife. Perfect.

The dark soul approached the objects of his hatred with a malicious and terrifying grin on his face. But this grin promptly vanished as his mind processed the clothes they were wearing. Ancient Egyptian clothing. Ancient. And their skin tone. While the Pharaoh's was the right tanned skin tone, Bakura's should have been pale, but no, it mirrored the Pharaoh's as he too sported a tan. Melvin scowled, _This is not right..._ He quickly paced over to Bakura's body and rolled the Thief over. Thief indeed. He was dressed just like one, and along with that a strange scar marked the side of his face.

This was not the Bakura he wanted. Melvin stomped over to the Atem's body and rolled him over as well. With this one he was less sure of his mistake. Atem looked like a Pharaoh, and well that was precisely what he was... But Bakura, This was not how Melvin remembered him, What went wrong in his spell? He growled to himself in distaste as he tried to work out what had went wrong. His thoughts were interrupted by a groaning sound and a harsh string of words in a language Melvin hadn't heard in a long time. He cast a look in Bakura's direction and realized that the Thief was cursing in ancient Egyptian language. New look or not, Melvin had brought them back for revenge and damnit he would have it. He stalked up to Bakura who was still lying on the ground looking much in pain. He leaned over the Thief and with a kitten murdering smile greeted Bakura. "Welcome back my, Mind Slave!"

Eyes focused on Melvin and he watched confusion wash over the other's face. There was no recognition, no fear, not even surprise, just plain confusion, as if Bakura didn't even know who he was. Which was weird considering they had both tried to destroy the world. Then Bakura opened his mouth a said with disgust in perfect Egyptian, "_Who are you?" _

This took Melvin by surprise. Never in all his days had he heard Bakura speak Egyptian and on top of that this Bakura didn't even know who he was. How could he not know him? That ruined all of his plans. Melvin grabbed the front of Bakura's robe and dragged him up so they were looking face to face. "Say that again!"

"Get off me demon!" retaliated Bakura in Egyptian. He did not seem to comprehend Melvin's words. The thief struggled to free himself from Melvin's grasp and used a strength unknown to Melvin to pry his fingers off him. He then proceeded to spit in Melvin's face. "Demon!" he yelled again.

Melvin took a step back wiping the offending substance from him cheek and nose. Gross. Bakura spat on him. "What is wrong with you, Bakura?" He demanded. "You are Bakura?" His question came out more as a statement as he tried to force his mind to comprehend what was going on. Almost as if he was trying to force the possibility that this might not be Bakura from his mind. Not Bakura? Then who else could it be. What next? Was Atem gonna tell him he wasn't a Pharaoh? ATEM! That's right! He turned his attention to the former Pharaoh and noticed him rousing from his previously unconscious state. He stood next to Atem as he slowly picked himself off the floor.

"Tell me that you are Atem! Atem former Pharaoh of Egypt and that Yugi Motou is your host!" Demanded Melvin as he glared menacingly down at Atem.

"Demon!" Thief Bakura bellowed again in Egyptian. "Demon!"

"Stop calling me that!" Melvin screamed back, Outraged at this strange behavior. The two men stared at him.

Atem then turned to Bakura pointed at him and yelled in Egyptian. "You dirty thief. How dare you summon a demon against me! And where have you taken me! I command you to tell me!" The Pharaoh's jewelry clinked with his movements as if to emphasize his accusation.

"Looks more as if you've dragged us both to the pits of Hell!" snarled the thief. "And as the Son of Ra I thought you were above demon summoning!" Bakura glanced around the room nervously scanning his surrounding. He seemed very skeptical as he scrutinized the interior of the laboratory.

"How dare you accuse me of such blasphemy! I am the Pharaoh, and I can have you executed for such insolence!" Atem was standing now, his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

Melvin stood in between them both thoroughly caught off guard by the strange behavior exhibited by the two men.

"But you're too much of a coward to do away with me yourself. You to are to high and mighty to dirty your own hands, you have to have someone else do it for you!" Bakura jeered at Atem.

Atem marched straight passed Melvin, the two having forgotten all about him in their exchange of words, and struck Bakura hard across his cheek. The force of the blow causing the thief's head to snap to the side. When Bakura recovered from the blow he turned to Atem with a blood thirsty look in his eyes. Bakura growled and sent a punch straight to Atem's face knocking him to the ground. He pounced on top of him so he could continue his pharaoh pummeling. The Pharaoh who had been momentarily caught off guard by the punch recovered when Bakura had jumped on him, and retaliated by hooking the thief in the jaw, and rolling them both over so he was on top.

"Stop this", Melvin yelled in Japanese but then remembered that it would get him nowhere. "STOP!" He yelled this time in Egyptian. He was extremely pissed off and he wanted these to OFF his hands since he was now quite sure that these were not the ones he was after. It was almost as if he had plucked both the Pharaoh and the Thief right out of ancient Egypt. In fact he was quite sure he had most probably plucked the two out of past. However despite Melvin's loud shouts to get them to cease their fight, the two continued their brawl completely ignoring him.

Atem let out a strangled groan as Bakura kneed him in the stomach while simultaneously managing to grip his neck with one hand. The pharaoh had one of his hands on Bakura's neck as well and prior to being kneed he had been socking the thief in the face with consecutive blows. This ceased however and Bakura took that as his chance to turn the tables and managed to flip Atem off of him and go for a knife he kept in his belt. Melvin decided to use the fact that the two were so into there fight to notice him to his advantage. He picked up a good sized bottle from one of the shelves and crept up behind Bakura and brought it down on the thief's head. The bottle shattered on impact with Bakura's skull and as a result he dropped like a stone, crumpling unconscious on the floor. he then directed his attention to Atem, who had fixed him with a confused stare. Before Atem could move a muscle Melvin spoke an incantation that sent the man crumpling to the floor by Bakura. Now with both of the egyptians unconscious it was time to dispose of the evidence to his failed ritual.

The possibility of just murdering his hated enemies and disposing of their corpses crossed his mind, but he suddenly recalled that he had accidentally plucked them from the past instead of the present and killing them might adversely affect the past. God be damned he had to get rid of them somehow. He did not want to be the one responsible if the two decided to murder each other. He needed a place where he could find them again when he figured out a way to send them back, but where he didn't necessarily need to keep watch over them. Where they wouldn't be his problem...

* * *

A knock at the apartment door pulled a young man's attention from his homework he had been doing for one of his college classes. His eyes drifted quickly to a clock on the wall and he confirmed that it was after two in the morning. Who would be at the door at this late hour? He walked over to the door and peered through the peep hole but saw no one. So he cautiously opened the door and looked about the hall of the apartment building. Nothing in particular caught his eye, the halls were dark and the only light was down at them end of the corridor above the stairwell. The young man was about to retreat back inside his apartment when a pained groan caught his attention. He look down to where the sound was coming from. He strained to see just what exactly was there but it was difficult to see in the poor light. However it appeared that two men were sleeping at his door step. He pulled the door open wider and gasped in shock as the two figures were bathed in light, recognizing faces he hadn't seen in over five years.

"Yugi?" A soft voice called from inside the apartment. "Is someone at the door?"

The young man in his early twenties and sporting a hairstyle consisting of black spikes with red tips and blond bangs turned his attention to his roommate. His complexion was pale as if he had been staring at a ghost. "Um... Ryou would you please come here and tell me I'm not seeing things." Yugi said his voice wavering a little.

Ryou walked up behind yugi rubbing his eyes. He had clearly been asleep and the knock at the door had roused him to an awake state. The young man's usually messy white hair was in even more disarray and it poofed around his head in a comical way. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes Ryou turned his attention to what Yugi was gesturing at. "Who are they?" He asked in a bored tone.

Yugi just shot him a glare and dropped to his knees beside the two bodies. "What do you mean, 'Who are they?'" he growled. "Look it's Other Me!" He tried to lift the man in front of him into a sitting position. _But how...how could the other me be here_? Yugi thought. Ryou walked over still sleepy and bent over to get a closer look at the other form laying in the hall and gasped. He too lent to help the figure into a sitting position.

"Bakura!" He squeaked. His voice catching oddly in his throat. "Ba-bakura?" He took a moment to get a better look and was minutely confused by the foreign features accompanying a face so painfully familiar to him. He turned to Yugi, "Why is Bakura all tan?"

Yugi was to absorbed in the sight of his_ Mou Hitori no Boku_ to pay any attention to Ryou's question. He wasted no time and the young student began attempting to drag his other self into the confines of his apartment. Now that they were in the light they could get a good look at the unconscious gasped at the sight. "It looks like they were in a fight or something." He lent close to his other self and examined the forming bruises on his face. Against his better judgement Yugi's eyes wandered down the rest of Atem's body his eyes taking in the style of clothing he was wearing. It was the same style as when his other self had left to live eternity in the afterlife. And a furious blush appeared on Yugi's features as he noticed Atem's kilt was hiked up.

Ryou took a moment to comment on Atem's appearance. "Now we know what Yami looks like in a man-skirt, huh?" Ryou then turned his attention back to the white haired thief in his own arms and noticed his other half was sporting a kilt as well and not only that but other than a loose fitting red robe, and a belt, Bakura had no other clothing. "Where did you get this nasty scar?" whispered Ryou as he leaned in close to Bakura's face. He gazed at it closely trying to judge how old it was. So absorbed he was in the side of the thief's face that he failed to notice as the white haired man became conscious.

Surprised to find himself looking up at a strange man after being knocked out Bakura lashed out at Ryou hitting him in the stomach. Then he swept the young mans legs out from under him sending him falling to the ground. He quickly climbed on top of Ryou and pinned the smaller man to the floor. Then put a hand to the other's throat and shouted in Egyptian, "Where am I?"

Yugi left Atem and rushed over to help his friend. His attempt to knock Bakura off of Ryou but was easily deflected and Yugi was sent sprawling on the floor with the wind knocked out of him. He recovered quickly however and launched himself at the thief again this time pushing Bakura off of Ryou and ending up in a tussle on the floor with the white-haired dark. Once free Ryou wasted no time in assisting Yugi and together the two managed to apprehend Ryou's dark half and keep him effectively pinned to the ground.

"Bakura! It's me!" Ryou said in a harsh whisper. "It's me Ryou, remember?" He tried looking his other half in the eyes.

The restrained man struggled to be free. "Get off of me!" He hissed in Egyptian. He was quite strong and despite the weight of the two young men combined, holding the thief down proved to be quite a chore.

Ryou looked at Yugi worried. "Why is he only speaking in another language? Do you recognize what language he's speaking, Yugi?" The white haired youth looked quite flustered, as he glanced between Bakura and Yugi in search of an explanation.

"He's speaking Egyptian." Yugi replied. He recognized the language thanks to his Mou Hitori no Boku. Yami had taught Yugi a fair amount of Egyptian before he had departed to the afterlife so he was able to vaguely understand what Bakura was saying. "But this isn't Bakura. Not the Bakura we know." Yugi clarified. After getting a good look at the thief's face he came to an assumption. "It's almost as if this is the Thief king from the past." He murmured, still quite unsure.

Just then they heard a moan from behind them. They turned there heads towards the sound still holding down Bakura. It looked as if the Pharaoh was waking up. His eyes blinked open. Yugi was overcome with such a rush of excitement, that he almost forgot he was helping to hold Bakura down. And If he hadn't caught himself in time he would have leapt to his feet and tackled the Pharaoh out of pure unadulterated happiness. But with a nominal amount of self restraint Yugi settled for watching his Mou Hitori no Boku wake up from his postion on Bakura's back.

It took Atem several minutes for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. There was a dull ache in his head, and his stomach felt naucious. He held his stomach and looked at the strange things around him. Not only was the room odd but one of the people in front of him looked just like him.

Bakura began struggling again for his freedom, jostling Yugi and Ryou about. "Get your Minions off of me! How dare you summon pale demons to take not only your appearance but my own!" Snarled Bakura at the Pharaoh.

In his excitement Yugi called out to Atem. "Mou Hitori no Boku! How did you get here! I'm glad to see you again!" Yugi was almost thrown off the theif as Bakura made a particularly sharp jerk in his attempts to get free.

"How dare you think that I summoned... aahhhg*" Atem was cut off as he doubled up in pain.

At the sound of Atem's pain, Without thinking Yugi jumped off of Bakura and raced to his yami's side. He placed his hand on Atem's side and tentatively asked, "Are you alright Yami?" Yugi leaned in close trying to look his darkness in the eyes. He was quite startled when he felt a sharp blow acrossed his face dealt by a once gentle hand.

Bakura took advantage of the situation and manged to throw Ryou off his back. He glared angerly at Ryou who was now lying on the floor holding his arm that had gotten jared quite painfully after getting thrown off.

Yugi was completely confused my the whole thing. "Yami?" He whispered holding a hand to his own stinging face

Atem started shreiking in yugi's face, speaking in ancient Egyptian and sounding very angry. "How dare you lay your hands on me! I am Pharaoh, the son of Ra! I don't know what you are be it demon or human, but stay away from me!" Atem tried once again to pick himself off the ground and was almost on his feet when severe pain coursed through his body causing his legs to collapse underneath him.

Before Yugi could react he felt a sharp blow to his head and he crumpled to the ground. Bakura now free had come up behind Yugi knocking him out. With the two "demons" taken care of he strode over to Atem towering over him. "Look how helpless the mighty Pharaoh looks now," he sneered " Too week to even get up off the ground."

Atem gazed at the thief from his position on the floor. He wanted to get up but his chest hurt too much. It must have been when he and the thief had exchanged blows earlier, one of his ribs must have gotten fractured. Atem felt so very tired and in so much pain as he let out a pained grunt, his arms finally gave in and he just crumpled against the floor completely at the mercy of the white-haired man towering above him.

Bakura felt a wave of delight at the sight of the Pharaoh cowering in pain. What a weak ruler, completely useless. Bakura was determined to make Atem suffer. Suffer for everything that had been done to him. And he started by kicking the pharaoh in the gut. His smile grew wider at the helpless cry Atem let out. So he kicked him again this time harder, and watched him curl in pain. Enjoying his revenge Bakura proceeded to stomp down on Atem's shin and was rewarded with a sickening crack, and a howl that was high pitched and tortured. He raised his foot to do it again.

Ryou cam to the Pharaoh's rescue and slammed into the thief's back. This caused Bakura to stumble forward and miss the Pharaoh. Ryou launched himself once again at Bakura and managed to throw him into a wall, and proceeded to grab a lamp that was nearby. Before the thief could recover from the sudden assault he was knocked over the head with the lamp, and the last thing he remembered was the shards of glass scattering around him. Then all went black for the thief.

Ryou went over and shook him. "Yugi, Yugi. I need your help. Please wake up." Yugi's eyes blinked open. He sat up holding his head but his pain was forgotten when he saw the state Atem was in.

"Yami!" He cried. He fell to his knees at the pharaohs side. But this time he made sure not to touch him. He was too afraid of being the subject of his darkness's wrath. Instead he looked about frantically for something useful to help in the situation.

"Should we call a doctor, Yugi?" Ryou asked as he watched Atem squirm in pain. From the look on the man's face the boys could tell her was clearly suffering. "He clearly needs medical attention." The white haired boy proceeded to kneel down next to Yugi, a look of concern clear on his features.

"We can't take him to the hostpital!" Wailed Yugi. "How would we explain where he came from?" The little game king was frantic. his arms waving about uselessly as he tried to come up with a solution. "Ryou!" he whined. "You're a medical student! Do something!"

"W-what?" The white haried student was taken back. "Yugi, I'm just studying, all my knowledge is just theoretical. I've never actually worked on anyone." Atem let out another long pained wail as he twisted on the floor, this drew both the boy's attention and they looked at him in sympthy. Yugi fixed his friend with a large wide eyed pout, that conveyed his desperate concern for the Pharaoh as he silently pleaded. "yugi, I hate it when you do that, You know I can't say no to that look." The boy's eyes got wider and more pleading. "Alright but I'm not promising anything. You know I could end up making this worse." Ryou proceeded to lean down and assess Atem's condition. "I need more light Yugi, help me move him onto the couch in the living room."

"Its going to be a little hard to move him since he doesn't want to be touched." Yugi said glumly

"Well he will just have to deal with it if we are to help him." Ryou replied "Yugi will you get his arms? I'll get his feet."

Ryou wasted no time grasping Atem's legs, but was slightly distressed when his actions were answered with very loud howls of pain. "Stop, being a toddler, Yami!" Scolded Ryou. "I'm very aware you are in pain, but you are being VERY loud, and unruly." Ryou tightened his grip on Atem's legs and waited for yugi.

Yugi took his place and attempted to lift atem up by putting his arms under Atem's and holding the pharaoh to his chest. Yugi found his proximity very close to his yami's as his head was on his darkness's shoulder. Atem however was too busy hissing in pain and agony to complain at them for touching him.

The two men set Atem on the couch the whole time the pharaoh kept up his sounds of pain.

In the better light Ryou leaned over Atem again. "Ok lets see what we can do. Yugi can you go get the first aid kit from the WC?"

Yugi wasted no time in racing off to the bathroom. He quickly located the first aid kit and returned with it clutched in his fingers. Upon entering the living room he tossed the kit at Ryou only to rush into the entry way like a bat out of hell.

"Yugi were are you going?" Ryou called after him "What If I need your help with something?"

Yugi came back through the living room moments later dragging bakura's body. He wasted no time dragging him over to the coat closet and stuffed the body of the thief inside. Then shut and locked the door and even proceeded to get a chair and prop it against the door knob. "We have to keep him contained." explained the boy.

"Its going to be bloody interesting when he wakes up. "Ryou said. The look on his face seemed to say that he was doubtful about the closet keeping Bakura contained. Then he turned his attention back to the needy pharaoh who was continuing to moan in pain. "Fetch the Vicodin! He's going to need it!" Yugi rushed off once again and came back holding a bottle of the pain killers and a glass of water. He dumped a few pills into his hand and proceeded to sit down on the very edge of the couch next to atem.

Yugi, stared at his Mou Hitori no boku, his wide amethyst eyes staring wonderingly at the face of his darkness. He watched the features in his face contort in pain before relaxing slightly only to scrunch up again in another wince. But there was something odd about his darkness. Subtle differences in his features, tell-tale signs that made Yugi's stomach clench in unknown doubt. The man before him was Atem no doubt about that. But there was something foreign about him that made him seem like a stranger to Yugi.

"Ryou." Yugi said, "I think they might be from the past, well as if someone brought them from the past to our time. From the time before they knew us. It would explain why they don't remember us and why they are only talking in ancient Egyptian," despair filled Yugi with each word he spoke.

"Come now Yugi." Ryou voiced his doubt. "Isn't that a bit outrageous? Who exactly is working magic like that anymore? And for what purpose? The shadow games are gone. What need would anyone have to bring Yami and Bakura from the past."

"But Ryou look at them!" Wailed yugi. "Yami's dressed like a pharaoh, and Bakura's the freaking Theif King! This just screams suspicious! And, and and..." Yugi's voice dropped to a whisper. "Atem hit me." He reached a hand up and touched gently the side of his face where Yami's hand had struck him earlier. He felt tears threaten to leak out, and sniffed to keep them reigned in. Never had his darkness acted violently toward him. Yami had always been warm and gentle towards the boy, in a way Yugi could not quite understand, but it made him feel safe and whole. Now there was an empty hole inside him. One that had been there since the pharaoh had departed to the after life but was now gaping and painfully noticeable now that Atem was back but with no memories of his light.

"We cant really worry about that right now Yugi, we have more pressing things to worry about like fixing the poor man up." Ryou said not utterly sure how to cheer up his friend but he knew that they had to attend to Atems wounds.

"You're right." Yugi gave him a fake smile and turned to the pharaoh who was already calming down, mostly due to the fact that he was tiring himself out rather quickly. "Open your mouth, please." Yugi told Atem sweetly, in Egyptian. He had learned some of the language from Yami before he had left for the after life. And Yugi was thankful for that, albeit a little embarrassed because his Egyptian was quite crude and limited.

In response to Yugi's request Atem just stared at him blankly. "Would you please open you mouth. Its for your own good." Yugi tried again in Egyptian. _This is going to be very difficult_ he thought to himself.

Atem was confused. One of the "demons" was leaning over him trying to tell him something about his mouth. The boy was even opening his own mouth in some sort of ridiculous gesture. He kept pointing at Atem saying something almost incoherent about mouth and opening his own. _He wants my soul!_ The pharaoh concluded. He glared at Yugi and shook his head keeping his mouth clamped firmly shut.

"He doesn't seem to understand." said Ryou.

Yugi groaned. Then shook his head. This time he would try and show Atem. He took one of the Vicodin pills and placed it in his mouth exaggeratedly. But he made sure not to swallow it. Then Yugi carefully grabbed another pill and put it up to the pharaoh's mouth.

All the while Atem watched Yugi closely. His demon look alike had put some type of object in his own mouth and now he was putting similar one to Atem's. It must be some kind of poison he concluded. His mind worked quickly to figure out a solution._ Those demons think they are clever, don't they. Well two can play at this game._ Atem pretended to play along and took the pill from the demon into his fingers. The demon nodded at him happily and mimicked putting the object to his mouth. For a moment Atem acted like he was going to obey before he quickly stuffed the pill in the demon's mouth instead. Yugi looked a just little taken back but not fearful of what Atem had done which confused him. If It had been poison than wouldn't he have gotten more of a reaction out his captor. Maybe the demon was not affected by this poison.

Yugi had to do something quick the medicine was beginning to melt in his mouth. Atem seemed to be proud of him self and let out a loud smug "Ha!" Yugi took advantage of this and placed his mouth on Atem's forcing his tongue to push the medicine into the other's mouth. his hands gripped Atem's hair keeping the pharaoh attached to him. Atem's eyes opened wide in pure shock. He wanted to struggle and get free but his body was to weak to move. There was nothing he could do except not swallow the poison that the other was forcing into his mouth. So the battle waged between the to men, their tongues pushing against the other for dominance. Finally Atem's exhaustion caught up with him. He couldn't hold up this fight anymore even though he would rather die than have this demon beat him.

With one last ditch effort Atem decided to turn the tables and forced his weight on Yugi, sliding off the couch and pinning the boy to the ground. With his last bit of strength he forced the meds into Yugi's mouth and pinched his nose. this caused Yugi to swallow involuntarily and let go of the pharaoh. His face had become deafly pale with the shock of the situation.

Atem attempted to lift himself off of Yugi, but failed miserably and just collasped awkwardly on top of him. Yugi fixed Ryou with a frightened look. "Ummmm... Ryou. He made me swallow the Vicodin." He then looked away with shame that he had failed. In the meantime, Atem was continuing his quest of trying to get off of the demon but only succeeded in squirming weirdly against him.

"For Christ's sake Yugi!" Ryou cried indignantly. "All 'that' and you couldn't even manage to get him to take the Vicodin?" Ryou was exasperated. He took the Vicodin bottle grabbed a pill leaned down and shoved the medicine in Atem's mouth while he was breathing heavily from his exerted effort. He kept his hand on the pharaoh's mouth and pinched his nose, causing the pharaoh to swallow the Vicodin this time. then he fixed yugi with another look, "Well you aren't going to be much help in about a half an hour." There was a scowl on the white-haired one's face. "I'm going to have to bloody deal with the both of them myself."

Yugi fixed Ryou with a worried look. them his gaze fell on the Pharaoh who was still throwing a fit but he seemed hysterical and scared. The young game master couldn't help but feel for his darkness, even if it wasn't really his darkness. "I'll stay with him and try to calm him down. You should start working on him." murmured Yugi. He leaned in close to Atem and tried speaking gentle words in Egyptian.

Atem was having trouble understanding Yugi's words but the boy's tone was gentle and soft. There was something soothing. He didn't know how long it had been that he stared into those soft purple eyes, but he began to feel lethargic. It wasn't just him, the boy seemed to be overtaken with drowsiness as well. The last thing he noticed before he drifted off to sleep was that he felt as if the demon was already beginning to posses is soul.

* * *

This is My first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic. My friend Edhelwen and I started this story on a whim. It will involve lots of S and M and comic mischief. If you haven't realized already, w seem to favor knocking the characters unconscious. lol. Please reveiw and tell us how we did as this is a collaboration project. thanks.


	2. Listen to the Hunter Becoming Hunted

Here is chapter to of mine and my friend's first Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic. I promise there will be S and M... we just haven't gotten to that point yet. Phoohey, anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter as we tried to make it fun.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is not ours. not that characters the story. nothing. And we also have no claim to Yu-Gi-Oh abridged, even though we borrow their ideas too. .

* * *

*BANG BANG BANG*

Of all the things to rouse Ryou from his sleep at seven o'clock in the morning, the sound of mad thumping and banging was not on his list. He would have preferred to wake up to a steaming cup of tea. Especially after his long night trying to give a couple thousand year old Pharaoh medical attention. Grumbling he climbed out of bed and walked out of the room rubbing his eyes. The thumping was coming from the closet where Yugi had trapped Bakura the night before. As he approached the door there was a sudden sharp jar that managed to make the hinges creak and cause the chair to jolt. The white-haired man was startled momentarily but recovered and went to move more stuff in front of the door.

Ryou was just finishing pushing a side table in front of the door when the sound of another person came from the other room. His patient must be waking up. He wanted more then anything to go back to bed but he should see to the the Pharaoh. At least check on him and make sure he was alright. Besides he didn't think Yugi was ready to rouse yet anyway. Upon entering the living room Ryou spotted the Pharaoh, he was sitting up and patting his chest with interest. He quietly approached the Egyptian and made sure to wear a warm smile that he hoped seemed nonthreatening.

Pharaoh looked up as he felt a strange presence coming near. His eyes fixed on the white-haired demon, who looked like he had a spider in his pants from the nervous smirk on his face. He had been hoping this had all been a bad dream but it clearly was not. He had woken up in the strange room and now one of the demons was coming over to him, most likely it was going to make him take that strange drug again. He had his suspicions that it was that "drug" that had made him so sleepy the night before. His sore muscles tensed up as he prepared to fight the demon with everything he had.

Ryou watched as the pharaoh eyed him warily. "The Vicodin wore off on you a lot quicker than what was expected." Ryou raised and eyebrow at him before shifting his gaze to the pharaoh's lighter skinned twin, who was currently asleep in the recliner next to Atem. There was a content expression on Yugi's face that Ryou hadn't seen in a very long time. Almost as if he was finally at peace after so many years. Ryou wanted to study his expression closer, but right now the injured, suspicious and potentially dangerous pharaoh demanded his attention. Not only that but there was a very persistent Thief in the coat closet that was making quite a racket. The constant loud thumping and banging bearing witness.

The white-haired demon approached, and Atem readied himself. His fingers clenched and unclenched under the blanket that had found it's way over him. His weapon of choice cleverly concealed._ Never mind that it was his only weapon at this point._

Ryou walked closer still flashing that ridicules smile. He leaned over Atem wondering how he was going to get his question through to the pharaoh when nails sliced across his face. "Bugger! What was that for, Yami?" Ryou clutched the side of his face and felt a warm liquid on his fingertips.

Atem started cursing in Egyptian. And waved his fingers in the air like a tried to sit up straight and winced in pain. With fingers stained with a bit of demon blood the Pharaoh clutched at his bandaged chest digging at the white gauze.

"Good bloody thing the first aid kit is still out here." Ryou said to himself but now the one in need of it. He walked over to get some band aids for his face all the while keeping a watchful eye on the Pharaoh. Ryou backed up to the side table beside the couch and retrieved the first aid kit he'd left there the night before. He fumbled a bit with the kit as he continued clutching the side of his face but managed to withdraw a disinfectant wipe and started to clean the wound on his face.

Meanwhile Atem tore the blankets off his body in an attempt to get a better look at his leg. He had quickly realized that it was hard to move said leg and distinctly remembered that it had gotten injured the night before. With un-trusting eyes he scrutinized the make shift cast that now bound his fractured leg. He was very tempted to rip the strange contraption off his leg out of fear that is was something cursed and terrible. The cast was made out of clothe and adhesive strips that were not familiar to him. The material felt foreign and rough against his skin, and he wondered if maybe the demons had imbued a curse in the clothe.

Ryou was started as a sharp crack emanated from the hallway. Even Atem's attention was drawn to the noise and away from his bandaged appendage. The first crack was soon followed by another crack and it sounded a lot like the splintering of wood. The white-haired boy's heart began to race with fear. His breathing picked up and he frantically glanced around the room for a weapon of sorts. Ryou's eyes fell upon a butter knife sitting on the coffee table next to a used paper towel; it must have been used during one of Yugi's late-night snacks. He quickly scooped up the paltry excuse for a weapon and readied himself for Bakura. As he stood nerves on end listening to the horrid splintering sound of the door, Ryou began calling to Yugi frantically in an attempt to wake up his friend.

Atem appeared to understand the urgency of the situation. He took notice in the fact that the white haired demon had retrieved some sort of weapon from the table nearby and was now taking a defensive stance with eyes toward the sound of destruction. Atem wondered briefly what had happened to the Theif Touzouku, and it seemed that his question had been answered. He also took note that it seemed as if the demon's were just as frightened of the thief as he was. not that he would ever admit that the Theif King frightened him, but without his powers and being severely injured, Atem had to face the fact that Touzouku could actually kill him, and that his only line of defense at this point was the pathetic looking demon version of the Theif King that seemed to be protecting him. Then he heard the white-haired demon cry out, cry out as if scared and desperate. Atem was unsure of the language and truly had no idea of the words these creatures spoke but to him it sounded like a name, and since the demon kept throwing glances at the creature that looked like him, he could only assume that was the other demon's name. Maybe with two demons they would have a better chance combating the thief? As much as the pharaoh hated the idea of having the other demon awake, he knew these strange creatures were his last line of defense, so he decided to help.

"Yugi!" Ryou called, "Yugi, Wake UP! PLEASE!" Ryou Bakura was frantic, he was so unsure of what to do at this point. He could now hear Yami Bakura swearing in his Egyptian language and it sounded like the Yami had figured out how to either bust a hole in the door or at least get it slightly open, because he was a lot less muffled. "YUGI! HELP!"

"Yogi!"

Ryou snapped his head around and stared at Atem. The Pharaoh had called out to Yugi also. Well he hadn't really said the name right but it was close. Did Atem finally realize that him and Yugi were here to help?

"Yo-ugi!" Atem tried again. "Yougi!" He reached his hand out to try and touch the small demon's knee. He missed and winced in pain from the movement. "Yougi!" He searched about him and found a few soft cushiony things that appeared optimal to throw while causing the least amount of injury. He hurled them at his demon look-alike, but still nothing. Meanwhile he could hear the smashing getting louder. Desperate now the pharaoh started to inch himself across the couch in order to reach this "Yougi" better. Despite the pain he stretched over the end of the couch and latched his hands on the demon's clothes. He then began to shake him violently all the while yelling the thing's name.

Yugi was slowly coming to realize that his world was shaking. Everything had been so dark. So dark and deep and restful, And his Yami was there, yes he had found his Yami again. He dreamt that he was safe in his Yami's arms and that all was right in his world once again. But now that world was shaking, and Yugi was realizing that it all was a dream, Atem was not back, Atem was in the afterlife, living in peace, finally resting after so long, And Yugi was in college living a normal life, going to become something. He was quite sure yet, but he would do great things like his grandpa, The shaking he assumed was probably Ryou trying to wake him for class. Yugi always stayed up too late studying, Ryou was always the good boy, going to bed early so that he could wake up in the morning. Yugi felt so tired he could almost laugh at himself for taking that Vicodin. What a silly idea that was! Taking Vicodin that late at night when he had known full well he had to get up in the morning for class. It was an early lecture today, and there would be a test in the next class, Yugi had studied hard for that test, and He hadn't even finished reading the chapter in his physics book because Yami had needed medical attention. Yeah that was why he had taken that Vicodin, and it had been great because he had inadvertently gotten to kiss his Yami, something he had wanted to do since Battle City, and had regretted having not done everyday since his Yami had left to the... after... life...

Atem was still shaking the little demon frantically. He continued to call to it hoping that it would wake up. He wondered why the demon seemed to be so out cold, and wondered if it was because of that medicine or poison he had made the demon ingest. Atem quickly concluded that, _that_ was the reason and doubled his efforts. And was extremely started as the small demon opened it's large beautiful intoxicating amethyst eyes and gave out a surprised yet frightened cry. The pharaoh was so stunned he released the demon and toppled off the couch making horrible howling sounds of pain in the process. To move only inflicted Atem with more pain so he cringed and willed himself to stop flailing about, pain or not. With heavy breathing through clenched teeth he was finally able to calm down and most of the pain subsided. When he was able to focus once again he opened his crimson eyes and found he was staring into those beautiful toxic lavender eyes of his look-alike.

"I'm still dreaming.." mumbled Yugi. He was leaning over the edge of the chair and staring down at crimson eyes... eyes like jewels crafted straight from the purest of blood. His mind felt foggy and clouded, it didn't help when all he could hear was a loud thumping and crashing, and maybe someone calling his name... maybe, it didn't sound quite right. "Ryou stop banging around! I've got a headache!" Yugi rubbed his eyes while half consciously yelling at his roommate.

"Yugi, I'm not bloody banging on anything. Bakura's in the closet and he's almost broken out. What are we gonna do?" Ryou was frantic, a lamp wasn't going to cut it this time. He really wished Yugi hadn't been drugged so bad, maybe then they might have stood a chance.

Atem suddenly started yelling at them in Egyptian. Ryou gave him a blank stare because he understood nothing, and Yugi still seemed quite out of it. The Pharaoh continued to yell in an attempt to make so kind of point but even he was realizing that it was of no use. The demons did not understand him, well at least not the white-haired one. The demon that looked like himself seemed to have a primitive understanding of him. Maybe this was his chance, if he could communicate with this demon maybe just maybe...

Yugi blinked several times still trying to clear his unfocused vision and put some order to his drugged brain. He felt warm hands against his face, soothing warm hands that made him feel a smoldering heat in the depths of his heart. He could get lost in that feeling, and he would have if not for his head being lifted and someone yelling at him rather loudly in Egyptian. If he understood correctly they were saying something about danger, and death, and thief. It took him several minutes to process these things and their meanings, he really was lacking in Egyptian, Yugi considered taking classes next term, it might be beneficial. All of a sudden his mind was jolted from is drowsy state as he registered pain, he swiftly fell backward and tumbled off the chair and onto the hard floor. "Ooooww~!" he whined Yugi looked up at the assailant and finally recognized it as Yami. "Y-yami! You are here! This isn't a dream!" Yugi sat up and rubbed the side of his face, his dark had struck him really hard.

Atem was relieved as it seemed the little demon before him had finally come to his senses. He began desperately telling the little one what was happening and that the white-haired demon needed help. In his fear and desperation Atem barely felt the pain from his various wounds, instead he was trying his hardest to get the demon on his feet. The demon looked a little confused but it seemed that the situation was dawning on him as he slowly climbed to his feet and called the his friend.

"Ryou, that's Bakura isn't it?" Yugi was referring to the sickening crack that came from the hallway.

"Yeah, might be nice if you grabbed something and helped, he'll be here any minute." Ryou called back. His hand was shaking but he held the butter knife at ready and had grabbed a book to throw at the thief as well.

Atem yelled to them in Egyptian again. It was supposed to be words of encouragement but all Yugi made out was something like, "Do not have mercy on that thief. Use your demonic powers. Demons like yourselves should have no problem with this wretch." Yugi came to the realization that Yami thought they were demons, and if he remembered correctly Bakura had called them that too. A plan suddenly formulated in Yugi's mind...

Yugi swiftly grabbed the knife out of Ryou's hand. His roommate fixed him with an appalled look but was not given the chance to dwell on that as Yugi suddenly grabbed him and held the butter knife to his friend's throat. "Play along." He hissed in Ryou's ear. Ryou let out a whimper and was about to ask what was going on when Bakura suddenly appeared in the entrance of the room.

The Thief King scanned the room and his eyes quickly found the Pharaoh on the floor, and the two demons standing a few feet away. His quick eyes assessed the situation and came to the realization that one of the demons had a knife to the other's throat. Touzouku raised an eyebrow at this, what was this farce carried out before his eyes? Why was the Pharaoh spawn holding a knife to the thief's own demonic look alike?

Yugi suddenly yelled at Bakura. Using his best Egyptian he attempted to explain to the Yami what was going on. "He die! You die!" Yugi jabbed Ryou in the throat for emphasis, and heard his friend give out a pained yelp. "You die, he die! He die, you die!" Yugi looked over at the Atem for help, He hoped at least one of the yami's understood. Atem must have realized what his demon was trying to say, because his eyes got larger.

Atem yelled at Bakura too. "Touzouku! Heed that demon! He is speaking your death! If your demon is to perish you will also. You have been tied it seems to your mirror!"

Touzouku looked incredulous. "What is this?" he gestured his hand at the demons. "Mirror's summoned for our own demise? Are you mad Pharaoh?"

"You can test them Thief, but it will be at your own risk. Tell me, are you willing to attempt it?"

The Thief King glanced back and forth between the Pharaoh and the demons. He did not want to believe that his life was reliant upon such fragile looking creatures, but with no proof other wise he was forced to take their word. "What will they have me do?" He asked the Pharaoh.

"Peace!" Yugi shouted in Egyptian. "No harm. No harm anyone!" He loosened his hold on Ryou.

Touzouku didn't seem to like these conditions. he glared menacingly at the Pharaoh and also at the demons, he had no idea the extent of these demon's powers and what purpose they served. Purpose besides an eminent ticket to death.

Yugi released Ryou who now turned to him and said, "What exactly is going on here! You just grabbed me and held a knife to my neck! I cant understand Egyptian you know!" His white-haired friend was quite flustered as he flung his hands about and moved from one foot to the other not quite sure what to do. _It was just a butter knife... but still with enough force even a spoon can be deadly._

"I'm sorry Ryou, I had to act fast. I'm using the fact that we look like them against them." Yugi was now speaking in Japanese again. "I told them that if you were to be killed Bakura would die and vice versa. Also the same for me and Atem."

"Oh? Is that all?" asked Ryou sarcastically. He rubbed his neck to get the feeling of the knife away from it, then snatched the utensil out of Yugi's grip. Ryou waved the knife around a bit out of nervousness as he took several steps away from Yugi. Atem was still on the floor but was now trying to crawl back on the couch, even so he kept a watchful eye on Yugi and Ryou and...

"GAH!" Yugi hit the ground hard as Bakura was suddenly on top of him. There was a rather excited and crazed look in the thief's eyes as he suddenly held an old style dagger to the young man's neck. Yugi felt cold fear grip his body as the metal pressed against his skin. White teeth flashed as Bakura grinned evilly.

"Time to DIE Pharaoh!" howled the thief in his own language. "You made a serious error placing your life in something so~" he almost whispered that last word, putting soft melody to it as if savoring it. "~fragile."

"STOP!" screamed Ryou. He may have screamed it in Japanese but it was desperate and shrill enough to get both the Pharaoh's and the Thief's attention. Both Egyptians turned to see what was happening. Thinking fast Ryou held the newly acquired butter knife to his own throat. "Kill him and you die!" Ryou threatened uselessly. Even though the Egyptians did not understand his words, Ryou's motives and actions spoke enough. Bakura took on a defeated look and slowly pulled the knife from Yugi's neck. The white-haired thief said a few things in his own language that didn't sound terribly polite and got off of Ryou's roommate. Ryou kept the butter knife against his own neck, feeling rather silly for it, but thanking the heavens that this actually worked. "Sit!" he commanded, he pointed at a chair.

Bakura fixed him with a look but appeared to understand Ryou's simple command. The thief took a seat and growled under his breath. Atem who had been startled by the sudden assault to is demon, recovered and pulled himself onto the couch not far from where Bakura was. Bakura was livid and only glared at Ryou with a severe intensity, while Atem had an expression of mild relief.

After a good ten minutes things seemed to have settled down, Atem was resting on the couch Yugi had gotten off the floor and was now rummaging through the first aid kit for something, and Ryou was now standing uselessly in the middle of the room clutching a butter knife and trying to understand what was going on. Bakura was still sitting in the chair glaring and hating the world and all its contents, but he remained obedient. And for that Ryou was glad, finally calming his nerves Ryou shoved the butter knife in his pocket as if sheathing it and gave a "HA!" It felt good to know that he was now in control of the situation.

"I want some tea!" announced Ryou. "He looked over at Yugi, "Would you like some tea? Because I want tea, I want it right now." Ryou marched confidently into the kitchen towards his objective.

Yugi was a little dumbfounded by his roommates sudden declaration, Ryou hadn't even waited to hear if Yugi had wanted tea or not. But he quickly shook off his confusion in favor of glancing warily at Bakura who had now fixed Yugi with a very..._ mean..._ look. Yugi backed off a little holding some gauze he had obtained from the first aid kit in hopes that he could change Atem's bandages.

"Don't you even think about it!" Yelled Ryou as he poked his head into the room. He pointed the knife at Bakura who was sporting a defeated look once again. Ryou watched as the thief settled back into the chair grumbling but being obedient. When he was sure the thief understood Ryou resumed his quest for tea, and returned to the kitchen.

Yugi approached Atem carefully with the gauze clutched tightly in his hands. As gently as he could he said, "Me help." in Egyptian in hopes that his Yami might understand his intentions. Atem seemed to understand but was skeptical in _how_ Yugi planned to help him. To answer his Mou hitori no Boku's questioning stares Yugi pointed at the bandages on Atem's chest and raised the gauze to show him it was the same material.

The Pharaoh stared coldly at the gauze, assessing it, then he turned to stare at his demon, scrutinizing him with his crimson eyes. Finally Atem deemed his demon's intentions harmless enough and made a gesture that granted the demon permission to redress his wounds. He was slightly started at the small creatures eagerness as it happily bounded p to him and began removing the older sweaty bandages. Atem came to the conclusion that his demon was a generally happy creature from the way it seemed pleased but such little things.

Atem winced as cold hands made contact with his skin, it was painful, just the temperature difference was noticeable. The demon however misinterpreted Atem's flinching and drew his hands away carefully and began a quiet chanting of some kind in it's own language. The Pharaoh could almost scold himself, he must have given the demon the wrong impression, so he reached out and took the creatures hand. "I'm fine." he told it in his simplest Egyptian. "Cold." he added as an explanation.

"You're cold?" Yugi asked in japanese. Easily forgetting the obvious language barrier. He quickly yanked the blanket out of the chair he had been sleeping in the night before and draped it over his Yami. Atem however was quite startled and at first slapped at the blanket in defense.

Atem then realized it was a normal blanket and that the demon had misunderstood him. He gave out a sigh, and gripped the demon's hand tighter. "No. Cold." he insisted jabbing at Yugi's hand with his finger. The demon must have finally realized what he meant because it's eyes widened and its mouth formed a large "O." Atem smiled at the demon as it sheepishly grinned and placed its other hand playfully on the Pharaoh's side. His smile only lasted a moment as he was suddenly offended by this and smacked the demon's hand away. He gave it a warning glare and it understood and became serious.

The thief King who had been watching the exchange at first with an expression of curiosity, had become amused. The his mood quickly shifted to disgust as it seemed the Pharaoh and his demon were getting close. He looked away in distaste and wondered where his scrawny little light skinned demon had run off to. He was half tempted to get up and go search for it, but remembered that he had been ordered to sit. And as much as the curiosity killed him to go find out what the demon was up to, he also favored his life too much to risk putting himself through the demon's wrath. He wanted to believe the demons valued their own life, but he couldn't be positive and thus refused to chance the possibility of causing his own death.

Ryou returned about ten minutes later with a tray of mugs. Each mug had Earl Gray tea in it and was just about finished in the steeping process. He eyes Bakura warily as he passed the thief and set the try on the coffee table in front of the couch. There were four mugs but he doubted if the Yaml's trusted him enough to actual drink it. But Ryou's mommy had raised him to be polite and the polite thing to do was to offer your guests a drink... no matter how _unexpected_ they were. Yugi was thrilled though and grabbed a cup of tea with lots of enthusiasm. He wasted no time shoveling several spoonfuls of sugar in it and then taking a generous sip. Atem was watching him with much interest and curiosity. Yugi's enthusiasm was dampened slightly as he realized what kind of tea it was, but he still enjoyed it even though it was not one of his favorites.

Ryou fixed his own cup of tea adding a bit of cream and taking a sip before turning his gaze to Bakura. Bakura was watching them with a very skeptical look and Ryou decided to be as nice as possible and shoved one of the mugs toward the thief in an attempt to convince him to drink it. Bakura refused to trust the demons and instead dumped the cup of tea on the floor in a blatant display that he did not trust them and would therefore not consume the substances they offered.

Atem out of spite seized a cup of tea and took a large sip of it, just to tease Touzouku. After getting a good taste of the substance that entered his mouth, the pharaoh had to fight off the urge to cough, and forced a swallow. Then he smiled smugly at the thief. Touzouku just glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

Yugi noticed the exchange and also picked up on the apparent distaste Atem had for the tea. He felt bad that he could not explain the tea to his Mou Hitori no Boku, but opted for pushing the sugar and cream towards him instead. Atem eyed the sugar and cream before turning his gaze to Yugi. He must have remembered that Yugi had put the sugar in his own tea because Atem reached out his hand and sampled both the sugar and the cream with his finger. Yugi watched as a look of approval reached his face and was relieved when Atem began doctoring his tea and testing the flavor.

Ryou was tired and was having trouble keeping his grip on his tea. periodically he placed the cup on the coffee table before snatching it up in favor of sipping it again. He had stayed up too late the night before and hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep before Bakura had woken him up with the incessant pounding. After several more cups of tea he felt his nerves calm enough and against his better judgment he began nodding off. He really hoped Yugi would be alright and that Bakura would heed his warnings and not try anything because he was really tired. The last thing he remembered before sleep claimed him was Yugi giggling at something or other and then he was gone.

* * *

thanks for reading, and I hope to update this again soon. Please leave a review and tell us how we did so my friend and I know how to improve our story. Much appreciated. thanks. ;)


	3. Don't Be Too Forceful

Here is chapter three. I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy it. We were trying to update on the solstice since that is when our story takes place but we failed. Anyway. This Fic is a collaboration project by two people. Myself and my friend Edhelwen. There is S and M in this chapter. YAY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything related to it. And I also have nothing to do with Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series. This fic is for entertainment purposes entirely.

* * *

"YEEAAARRGGGHHHH!" With a sweep of an arm several vials and flasks containing various chemicals smashed on the floor spilling their respective contents. Several of the chemicals reacted causes a mess of bubbles on the floor. Large boots stomped through the mess of broken glass and chemicals, pacing.

"What went wrong?" Melvin screamed at his texts books. Said books remained motionless on a table nearby. Melvin marched up to them and threw them off the table and onto the floor in his searing anger. "Everything should have gone as planed!" Some papers covered in notes fluttered to the floor. Melvin proceeded to shred one of his text books. page by page, letting the shredded bits fall around the room. The distruction of his books would not fix his problems, but at the moment it was helping to ease his anger. "Where did I screw up? I read the texts carefully. I had all the right supplies, all my circles were perfectly written. I double checked all of them..." Melvin turned his eyes to the cut on his hand. _All of them except the blood circle... the most important circle..._

Violet eyes turned to the remains of the textbook he had just shredded. The text book that had belonged to his host. _And the same textbook that had distracted him during his summoning ritual..._"Fuck you Marik!" Melvin sent the cover of the textbook across the room and grabbed the nearest potentially dangerous object. With almost inhuman strength the dark soul sent a desk flying into a wall where it smashed into several pieces. "Worthless, decrepit human creations!" _I'll have to wait six months to send those failures back to their own time. In the mean time, I'll have to get the materials to reconstruct the first ritual, and another set of materials entirely to preform the spell to send the failures back._ Melvin looked irritably around the room at his laboratory. His job as a college professor in Egyptian history, culture and language, was a good job, but he did not make enough money to support frivolous spending, such as buying large amounts of ritual materials. And now he would have to clean up and pay for all the damage he caused in the chemistry lab that he had decided to throw a tantrum in. _I can't afford to be fired over this..._

Several hours later, Melvin finished cleaning up the last bit of shattered glass. After dumping the remains of his lost temper into the trash he tied the bag full of broken glass and chemical soaked rags and carried it out of the building where he discarded it into a dumpster. Melvin then assessed his own apparel and finally noticed he was still only clothed in a simple sarong. Not exactly clothing deemed appropriate in modern society. Returning to the building, he stopped by his office and changed into his more professional collage professor attire. After fastening the last button he clicked off the desk light and left his office locking the door tightly behind him. Melvin noted the runes and symbols still marking his body and opted for a shower when he got back to his apartment.

Melvin's daily transportation was heavily influenced by is hikari. As the dark soul exited the building and made his way across the parking lot, he quickly started towards a lone black motorcycle in the corner of the parking lot. Because he was a member of the university's faculty, he was required to set a good example and wear a helmet, But Melvin rarely obeyed laws. Instead he climbed on his bike, started the engine, and revved it just for the thrill. With one last glance back at the building where his ritual had been carried out almost five hours prior, Melvin left. His gaze flickered to the sky monetarily and he noted that it was getting light so dawn must be approaching. The stupid students were all on winter break at the moment... So nobody would be around to pester Melvin for at least a little while.

The clouds above started to dissipate as the aura of magic had passed many hours before. Between the cloud cover the pinks and oranges peeked with the coming of dawn. Melvin's motorcycle sped down the quiet streets toward the more run-down part of the city. After taking several dark and creepy side streets the Dark Soul came to a stop in front of a very old and gray apartment building. The neighborhood in general was very dark and there were broken and unusable cars helter skelter in front of other buildings. Several shady people could be seen loitering around, but Melvin didn't care. He was used to the dismal surroundings and the threat of strangers was almost non-existent to him. After a month in the area, Melvin had been considered too crazy and violent to approach.

As if to emphasize the fact that he was crazy, he opened the door to the apartment building's maintenance room and wheeled his motorcycle inside. The inside of the room was empty except for several boxes of tools and a work station. Inside Melvin used a chain to lock up his bike before leaving and locking the door securely. He had long ago claimed that room for his own personal workspace. The owner of the building no longer paid for a maintenance man, so it was now used as a storage place for Melvin's bike as well as a spot to fix it if anything ever went wrong. Melvin made sure to lock the door to the room tightly, then he climbed the many floors to his own apartment where he all but crashed the moment he got in the door. Tossing his things about, the tired man flopped himself on the couch and decided on a nap. He did not bother to lock his own apartment door. He had no fear of assault or robbery, anyone miles around would think twice before messing with him.

* * *

Yugi blinked awake. He realized belatedly that he must have dosed off and glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 11:00 in the morning and the boy jumped with a yelp. "Ryou I'm late for class!" Yugi glanced at Ryou who was sleeping in a chair nearby. The white-haired boy also woke with all the noise Yugi was making. Yugi spared a look at Atem who had fallen asleep on the couch looking quite peaceful.

"You don't have class today. We're on break remember?" Ryou stretched his cramped muscles and sat up. It took him a few moments to remember why he was in a chair but as he slowly came to, he noticed that Bakura was not where Ryou had left him earlier. "Do you know where Bakura went?"

Yugi stopped running around the living room and looked around for the thief. There was no sign of him anywhere, and for some reason that unnerved the boy. "Maybe he went to a different room?" Both Ryou and Yugi began to scour the apartment. They peered into the kitchen but no thief king. Next the bathroom and still nothing. They finally came to Ryou's Room to find Bakura trying to figure out how to take off the shinny handles on Ryou's dresser. The thief had already managed to pull all the clothes out of Ryou's dresser, including all of his underwear. So far one knob was missing and Bakura was making short work of the second. He looked up as Ryou and Yugi entered the room.

"Hey! what do you think you're doing?" Yelled Ryou. He ran up to Bakura and tried push him away from the he dresser but the thief was surprisingly hard to move so his efforts proved useless. Yugi just stood in the doorway not really sure what to do. "Stop that!" Ryou latched onto Bakura's arm in an attempt to get the thief to stop vandalizing his property. Bakura just gave the boy a bored look and grabbed his wrist. Ryou winced as slight pain coursed through his arm from Bakura's strong grip. The thief said something to him in Egyptian, and it sounded quite snide. Irritation overcame the white-haired boy and he reached into his pocket for his butter knife only to come to the realization that it was no longer there.

Sharp white teeth flashed and the thief king sneered down at his little victim. with a twirl of his fingers he produced the boy's butter knife and flaunted it before his eyes.

"Hey!" yelped Ryou. He snatched at the knife but Bakura held it out of reach. "Bakura! Give that back!" The thief blinked a moment in surprise. "Bakura!"

"Ba-koorah?" asked Touzouku a little confused. He grabbed Ryou's other hand as the boy made another snatch at the knife. He then nodded at his look-alike, "Ba-koorah?"

Ryou looked a little startled and struggled to get free when Bakura grabbed his other wrist. "Well, yeah. I'm Bakura too, but so are you!" Ryou clarified uselessly. He nodded towards the thief in return. "Bakura." he said pointedly.

Touzouku, shook his head as he realized the boy was calling him "Ba-koorah." That was not right. The boy should learn to address him properly, by his name. "Akeifa" He released the demon's wrist and pointed to his own chest. "Akeifa." Then he pointed to Ryou, and raised an eyebrow.

Ryou fixed the thief with a very curious look. Bakura had never told him his real name when he had inhabited his body for so many years. And not a full day with the "Thief King" himself and Ryou was already being told the handsome Egyptian's name. When he realized that "Akeifa" was inquiring Ryou's name now, he struggled to swallow a noticeable gulp and said simply, "Ryou." With his free hand he gestured at Yugi, who was still in the doorway to the bedroom watching the two white-haired men with a worried gaze. "Yugi." Ryou said in assumption that the thief would understand.

Akeifa looked up seeming to notice Yugi for the first time. He scowled and pointed at the boy with multi-colored hair. "Pharaoh spawn!" he spat in Egyptian. He tossed Ryou's butter knife at the boy, and Yugi just barely dodged.

Ryou grabbed Akeifa's arm in an attempt to prevent him from throwing the knife at Yugi but it was too late. Yugi recovered from his dodge and whined at Akeifa with anger. "I am not!" He picked up the butter knife while he was at it and denied Akeifa's accusation again but this time in Egyptian.

"What did he say?" asked Ryou.

"He called me Pharaoh spawn." explained Yugi, his voice still whining.

Akeifa sniffed and released Ryou completely. Ryou stumbled back away from the thief and glared. As if to spite his demon Akeifa pocketed the dresser knob and marched out of the room. Both boys watched as the thief left and wondered vaguely who exactly won this little spat. After all it was Akeifa who still had the handle to Ryou's dresser.

* * *

Yugi glanced up at the sky, the gray ominous clouds hung over head, and he felt a drop of rain splash against his cheek. He was determined to make it back to the apartment before it started to completely downpour. He crossed over several streets and darted between cars while balancing two bags of groceries. Yugi was two streets from his and Ryou's apartment building when his foot caught a curb and he dumped one of his bags as he fell.

"Uwah!" Yugi let out a startled sound as he hit the ground. His knee hit the pavement pretty hard and as pain coursed through his leg he knew it was probably bloody. After a moment Yugi climbed to his feet and grabbed up the groceries scattered across the pavement. He limped the rest of the way home, and as he reached the apartment door his arms were aching and he could feel the blood running down his leg. Upon making it to the door he thumped his shoulder against it several times in a sad attempt at knocking.

The response Yugi got was somebody yelling angrily in Egyptian and Ryou yelling, "I'll get it!" and then the door opened and Yugi stumbled inside. Ryou stared him but was silent as the disheveled boy limped into the kitchen and placed the groceries on the table. That being done Yugi collapsed in a chair just in time to hear the downpour start outside. His eyes glanced over at the window and observed the rain that fell noisily from the gray sky.

Ryou shut the door and followed Yugi into the kitchen. "What happened out there?" he bestowed Yugi with a worried expression and started unpacking the grocery bags so he could put away the food.

"I fell." mumbled Yugi in response. He looked worn out and he rested his face on table.

Ryou fixed his friend with a skeptical look. Yugi was wearing capris so Ryou was quick to notice the thin trail of blood running down his friend's leg. "I believe you might want to clean up that leg. The first aid kit is still in the living room." Ryou put several vegetables in the fridge, and bent over to store a box of cereal in one of the cupboards. "Atem's hungry and I think he wants a bath."

"Why can't you deal with him?" grumbled Yugi. "I just got home."

"Because he won't let me near him. He keeps pushing me away and scratching at me." Ryou stood up straight, placed his hands on his hips indignantly and blew a lock of white hair out of his face. "And whenever I try and talk to him he always interrupts me saying, 'Yougi.' So now he's your problem. Besides I still have Bak- I mean Akeifa that I have to deal with." At the mention of the thief both boys glanced towards the other end of the apartment wondering what he was up to.

Yugi wandered into the living room where he was assaulted by a demanding stare the moment he passed the threshold. Crimson eyes followed his every movement as he fished around the first aid kit and obtained the disinfectant wipe so he could clean his knee. Yugi sat down next to Atem's feet where he could still feel the glare piercing him and began to wipe the blood off of his leg.

Without warning Yugi was forced off the couch and found himself on the floor. He blinked a couple of times before fixing Atem with a glare, accusation blatantly apparent in his eyes. Atem just gave him a look that told Yugi plain as day that he was filth and had no right sitting on the couch that the Pharaoh was currently occupying. As retaliation a pink tongue shot out from between Yugi's lips as he blew a raspberry at Atem.

*SLAP!*

Wide bright eyes blinked several times and Yugi recoiled from a sharp blow. Atem had slapped him quite painfully across the side of his face and the boy had subsequently bit his tongue. Now Atem was yelling at him and gesticulating wildly. A giggle from the doorway made Yugi turn his head, he found Ryou watching while holding a tray of soup and sandwiches. Yugi narrowed his eyes at the albino and was about to open his mouth to say something when he was kicked in the back and sent sprawling on the floor.

"For the love of God! Stop doing that!" He turned and kicked the couch that Atem was laying on. The pharaoh only glared at him with his arms crossed over his chest. Yugi got up as Ryou came over a placed the tray on the coffee table.

"I made sandwiches and soup just before you came home. But you are going to have to feed his highness yourself." Explained Ryou, he was smiling.

Growling under his breath, Yugi grabbed a sandwich off the platter. He approached Atem and held out the sandwich in offering.

Atem looked at the sandwich, then he looked at yugi, then back at the sandwich. After several moments he reluctantly opened his mouth.

Yugi's eyebrows lowered into a glower and Ryou busted out laughing. The whitette doubled over holding his sides and enjoying this predicament. "You can't be serious!" Whined Yugi. He bent forward a put the sandwich to the Pharaoh's lips and waited for the Pharaoh to take a bite. For a moment Yugi's eyes met Atem's but the eye contact was broken as the Pharaoh struck him again.

"Avert your eyes!" Ordered Atem in Egyptian. The pharaoh watched as the demon's eyes obediently turned away. "Down on your knees!" The demon seemed slightly puzzled with his next order, and made a funny face, but after several moments the demon lowered itself onto it's knees before the Pharaoh and held the sandwich up to him. Satisfied with his new servant's obedience, Atem began eating. He did however glare at the white haired demon and motioned for it to leave his presence.

Ryou took the hint. "Have fun with your master Yugi." He teased. Ryou didn't miss the sight of Yugi's face flushed bright pink with embarrassment as he exited the room in search of Akeifa. He found the mischievous bastard in the bathtub attempting to remove the shower nozzles unsuccessfully. Ryou marched in a slapped the thief's hand and told him "NO!" as if he were a bad dog. That seemed to irritate the thief and he grabbed at Ryou but failed as his bare feet slipped on the slick surface of the tub and Akeifa was sent tumbling forward grasping at the shower curtain for stability.

After several loud crashes and a series of sharp popping sounds as the shower curtain was torn from it's rings, Ryou found himself pinned to the floor by Akeifa's heavy and finely muscled half naked body. Ryou's faced turned a bright red and struggled in vain to free himself. The thief pushed up onto his hands and knees but kept Ryou pinned to the ground with his hands on to the boy's wrists. "So weak. You cant even free yourself." Akeifa laughed at Ryou who continued to struggle not understanding a word his capture said.

Ryou used his strength and tried to force the thief off of him, struggling awkwardly he tried to brace his heels against the floor for leverage. This caused the boy to thrust his body against Akeifa's awkwardly. A sharp intake of breath was the thief's only response, and Ryou was quick to realize his grave mistake.

Akeifa recovered himself and glared down at Ryou. He spoke quickly and quietly, his voice low and questioning. "What kind of demon are you? A curse? A bond? You certainly are not a demon of destruction. You are too weak, too feminine, so slight, and too clean. Your touch is so gentle, almost... like... like... seduction..." Akeifa's eyes widened and he suddenly stiffened, almost as if he felt snake bite the thief rolled off of Ryou. In his throat he growled, and he pulled himself to his feet stomping out of the bathroom.

The white haired boy sat up and watched the door where the thief had exited. Ryou had not understood a single word, and yet their was something about Akeifa's tone, and the look in his malicious eyes. There was a loneliness in his chest that made him miss Bakura, and yet their was something about the thief king that was alluring. His presence was almost comforting, and that felt so wrong to Ryou, on so many different levels.

Atem raised his head when he heard Touzouku come stomping into the living room. The thief scrutinized both the Pharaoh and his demon, said demon was currently feeding Atem soup one spoonful at a time. Akeifa made a face of complete disgust and left back the way he came. He passed right by the bathroom, which his own demon was occupying, and entered the door farthest down the hall. This room was the one he had been in earlier in his quest to acquire the interesting looking handles on the wooden cabinet with drawers. He flopped himself down on the soft bed, with the blue and white striped bed clothes, and dug his fingers into the fabric.

As the thief buried his face into the bed a sudden scent claimed his senses, and he sat up recoiling from the surface of the bed. _It was that demon's scent... all over the bed._Akeifa's eyes scanned the room and the surrounding objects in it's interior. He was almost surprised to realize that everything in the room caused him to think of that demon. He let out another frustrated growl and hid his face into the fabric again. He was hungry and irritated and he felt confined. And confinement was something the thief hated with a severe passion. He rolled around a bit in frustration before curling up and falling asleep.

* * *

Ryou had just finished rehanging the bath curtain when Yugi came to the door of the bathroom with a regal looking Atem on his back. The pharaoh had one hand buried in Yugi's hair gripping the locks tightly with his fingers, the other was gripping the boy's shoulder so as to keep stable. Yugi had both of his hands behind him holding the pharaoh up in what was commonly known as a piggyback position, but he was far from excited about it.

"He wants his bath now." stated Yugi. Ryou blinked at him before stepping out of the way and letting the two spiky haired men into the bathroom.

Ryou gave Yugi a meek smile, "I'd love to help but this job is for Pharaoh spawn exclusively I'm afraid. Have fun." He shut the bathroom door before Yugi could come back with a retort.

Yugi glowered at the door, but a painful pulling of his hair brought him back to the situation at hand. As gently as he possibly could Yugi lowered the Pharaoh from his back to a sitting position on the counter top next to the sink. He had briefly contemplated having Atem sit on the toilet but figured _his highness_would find it below him. Atem watched him intently as he scurried about the bathroom preparing the bath. It wasn't long and Yugi had drawn the bathtub full of water, several fluffy yellow towels and a washcloth were placed on a stool nearby, and a selection of melon scented shampoos and a bar of soap were moved from their place on the shelf to the edge of the bathtub.

With everything in place Yugi stood in front of Atem in order to help him into the bath. Atem's pharaoh apparel was already quite revealing, and he had no Idea how he was gonna do this. "Bath ready." he stated in Egyptian. Atem just looked at him plainly before turning his eyes to the bath and then back to Yugi

"Temperature," Atem said back to him as if it was an obvious detail.

"Right," Yugi said to himself, he scurried over to the bath tub, snatched a cup off one of the shelves, and dipped it into the water. Careful to keep his eyes averted of the Pharaoh's, Yugi held out the cup of water to him and waited. After a moments hesitation Atem dipped his hand into the water and tested the temperature.

The Pharaoh's mouth turned down in a frown. "Too cold," he said. He watched as the demon sighed and returned to the bathtub. The demon messed around with the knobs on the wall and made more water pour into the bathtub, moments later he returned with the cup refilled. Atem tested this water and even though it was perfect he knocked from the demon's hands and told him to make it warmer. Again the demon adjusted the water, returned with a cup full, and very reluctantly the Pharaoh gave his approval.

After gaining the Pharaoh's approval on the water temperature Yugi gestured to the bathtub and smiled. His smile faltered when Atem only stared at the bath water. Absently Yugi twiddled his thumbs, he didn't have the words to accurately tell Atem that the bathtub was alright, not to mention that he wasn't even sure what the Pharaoh's problem was in the first place. It was almost as if the pharaoh was waiting for something.

Several minutes passed and finally Atem moved himself from the counter top to stand on his good leg. He winced slightly in pain but was able to bite it back. He took another moment to compose himself then turned his head to the side and commanded, "Undress me, demon."

* * *

There you have it. I don't know when chapter 4 will be out, but i'm gonna try and work on it as quickly as I can. Yes I know Atem is being a bitch, but he IS Pharaoh so he kinda can be. ^^ Reviews make my friend Edhelwen very happy. She's not a confident writer, so if you want to read more, well... reviews certainly inspire her to write. And I can't write this fic without her help.


	4. You'll Ruin your Chances

Here is chapter 4. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

A motorbike came to a halt outside the grey sad-looking apartment building. In Malik's personal opinion the place looked decrepit and condemned with saggy frames and cracked windows, even pieces of the building peeling off. Malik wanted to describe the street itself as saggy but a better description was that is was riddled with pot holes and most of those pot holes were flooded even though it hadn't rained for several days. Even in the mid afternoon the area was dark and shadowed and in the places between the building Malik could just make out shadows skulking about as if waiting for something.

Malik snorted audibly and made a derogatory comment about, "No taste," under his breath before fishing around in his pocket and pulling out a key. He wheeled his bike up to the maintenance room and quickly unlocked the door. Melvin had given him a key awhile back when they had still vaguely been in touch. He hadn't seen his yami in almost a year, and things would have stayed that way if the circumstances hadn't changed. Malik was only here to retrieve a rather expensive text book from Melvin. A book that was rather difficult to replace. He headed into the building and bounded up the steps two at a time eager to get this done and over with. He go to the fourth floor and headed down a poorly lit hallway. As he walked he glanced at the floors until he came to a door marked with the number (could you help me think of a good number for this and maybe what flour it is two i just up 4 randomly i also dont know how many apartments are one each floor so...) and knocked.

After his first initial knock received no answer, he tried again, and again. The former tomb keeper began to feel agitated, he knew Melvin was home because the maintenance room downstairs housed the dark's motorcycle. He decided after a moments contemplation to just force the door open and was mildly intrigued to find it unlocked. But he brushed it off and stepped inside the poorly lit apartment. Inside was sparsely furnished and suffice it to say dismal. The lack of light was caused by ragged dust brown curtains, or better yet blankets, that were hanging off bent nails just above the windows. There was a chair in the entryway with a pile of smelly shoes stuffed under it and a coat draped over it.

Marik stepped into the living area and spied a burgundy couch that had seen better days sitting in the middle of the room conveniently in front of a rather large flat screen TV. There were an array of cans littered along the floor, labeled anything from soda, beer, to imported pineapple juice. Marik wrinkled his nose and stepped over a box as he approached the kitchen.

The kitchen was no better than the living area as old food littered the counter tops as well as an array of cans and dirty dishes. Everything in the kitchen looked dingy and gray and Malik noticed quickly that his yami had not set the time on the microwave anytime late as the numbers still flashed a random time. He sighed and wondered vaguely if this apartment wasn't actually abandoned. It was as if nobody had touched it in weeks, but he knew better because Melvin's bike had been parked in the maintenance room downstairs. With another quick look over Malik stepped out of the kitchen and re-entered the previous room.

It startled him momentarily when he saw his yami passed out on the couch. He wasn't sure how he had missed him when he had first walked by, but there he was dressed in his professor attire and sporting strange markings all over his skin. Malik stepped forward to get a better look and was mildly fascinating when he recognized a few of the markings.

"Black magic again?" Malik scowled and leaned closer to get a better look at Melvin's forearm. "Appears to be some strong stuff." Malik's fingers brushed slightly over the tanned arm and he let out a frightened gasp when two strong legs suddenly shot out and locked themselves around him in a stone-like grip.

In the span of several seconds, Malik found himself on the floor and his Yami was upon him, effectively pinning him to the floor mad eyes staring intently into his.

"What are you doing in my apartment?"

It took the winded Malik several moments to reply, but eventually he responded. "I came to retrieve my property. I lent you a text book awhile ago and I want it back."

"Too late." breathed Melvin. In one fluid motion he leapt to his feet and stepped away from his light.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Demanded Malik. He picked himself off the floor and shot his Yami with a rather cold stare. He noticed right away that his dark side was still in superb shape. Even beneath the professor attire, muscles still made themselves known, and Melvin's sleek figure moved with the grace of a large predatory cat.

"You'll have to wait until break is over. Your book is at my office." Melvin explained over his shoulder. He stretched in a way that emphasized his strength and Malik had the inkling that he did that on purpose for intimidation. Malik watched him saunter into the kitchen and he could hear the fridge open. He contemplated following his dark into the kitchen but decided against it.

"I need the book for this term! What's so damn difficult about going and getting it for me!"

Melvin reappeared, his expression impassive, and he held a bottled tea in his left hand. Malik eyed the bottle warily.

"I'm all out of alcohol and soda." Explained Melvin, he popped the cap and took two long gulps. The muscles in his throat moving powerfully while he drank.

Malik swallowed dryly and took a step back towards the door. "You didn't answer my question."

"To hell with your question. I'm exhausted and tired and I'm deprived." He fixed Malik with a malevolent look. "I suggest you leave. You will get the fucking book back when I feel good and ready."

The light contemplated his options briefly. He didn't like his Yami's attitude or the strange look he was receiving; after only a moments hesitation longer Malik turned on his heel and marched toward the door in a 'holier than thou art' manner. His hand had just reached the door knob when he heard Melvin speak again.

"Hikari~ I will see you again."

Malik wrenched open the door and left. The words still whispering in his brain. He shivered and tried to wipe the experience from his mind. Things had not gone as planned, and Malik regretted having paid his insane half a visit.

* * *

Ryou went looking for the thief and paused while passing the bathroom, when he heard a strange sound.

"Aaaah!"

It sounded very much like Yugi, almost like he was distressed. Ryou took a moment to knock twice and called through the door, "Yugi are you alright?"

"No!" Yugi sounded breathless and frantic. "Ah! Don't touch that!"

Ryou clapped his hand over his mouth and took a step back.

"Stop it! Please don't put that there!" A sudden crashing sound followed by several splashes and another yelp came from the bathroom.

* * *

Yugi held a razor out of reach while he struggled with the Pharoah. Atem was being indignant, not only did Yugi have to help him stand, he also had the keep the Pharaoh's hands off the various objects around the room. The young college student felt a heated brush creep across his face as Atem leaned against him. His bronze skin glistened from the water and he now smelled of modern shampoo and soap. All of his muscles flexed easily, and his toned body was magnificent despite the bruises that now marred his beautiful skin. His yami's dirty clothes were piled in the corner and Yugi decided it might be better if he gave Atem some of his clothes temporarily. Helplessly Yugi's eyes scanned the room taking in the disarray.

The entire bath experience had been one giant mess, and Atem just could not stop touching things. On top of that Yugi was soaking wet and so were the towels. He rested the injured Pharaoh against the counter and after retrieving one of the towels from the bathtub that Atem had discarded in there he marched over towards the bathroom door. Opening it he glanced around but Ryou was already gone. _Great... Just great..._

* * *

Ryou had rushed down the hall in horror after hearing the sounds from the bathroom and had slammed the door behind him. He pressed his back to the door and took a deep breath to calm himself. He glanced up momentarily and noticed the white haired thief asleep on his bed with a gray, black, and white tabby cat curled up on top of him. Ryou took a moment to enjoy the scene as it was rather cute and peaceful, which was a strange contrast given the previous hellish hours.

The moment was ruined when Akeifa stirred and made a grumbling sound. The hikari watched as the thief sat up slowly and blinked at the cat sitting upon him. The cats only response to Akeifa's movement was a yawn and a half-hearted stretch. Seconds went by and the thief's eyes focused on Ryou and then narrowed. Ryou gulped as he stared back. He feared for his cat's safety and at the same time he feared for his own.

Akeifa watched Ryou for a moment longer and made a note of the demon's expression. It looked something like helpless and pained. After another look at the strangely large and fat cat sitting on him he attempted to remove the creature off of him. A gentle prod failed and the thief changed tactics, he shoved at the cat quite hard and shifted his legs.

The movement failed to drive off the rather indignant cat which only dug its claws into Akeifa's shenti. The man let out a yelp and tried grabbing the animal, which in turn lashed out at his face.

In the span of a couple seconds the once peaceful room had exploded into chaos. Akeifa was rolling around trying to detach a very angry feline from his face and Ryou rushed to his aid. When the thief rolled to the left Ryou snatched at the cat, and managed to peel it from Akeifa's face.

"No Florence!" scolded Ryou as he held the cat tightly trying to calm it down.

Akeifa rolled to the floor and clutched the side of his face. His eye was hurting where the cat had dug its claws into his eyelid. It had also bit his nose and scratched his chin. After a moment he looked up a his demon and saw that it was cradling the horrible monster that had viciously attacked him.

"I'm sorry." Apologized Ryou. He tightened his grip on Florence as the cat gave out a annoyed growl. Ryou pet the upset cat until he began to calm down, then he opened the door and set the cat down in the hall. Akeifa watched the him warily as he clutched the edge of his coat and held it to his face to prevent the blood from running into his eye. "I'm really sorry." Ryou apologized again. He rung his hands nervously as he contemplated getting the first aid kit. "Are you alright?" He took a hesitant step toward the thief, concern showing in his soft brown eyes. "I...I should go get a rag." Ryou said as he turned around quickly and left the room.

Since the bathroom was closer, Ryou rushed in and fished a rag from a drawer below the sink.

"Ryou!" Yugi yelped. "Thank God, could you get me a towel?" The boy was currently fighting with a very indignant, and very naked pharaoh, but he managed to motion to the towel currently floating around in the bathtub. "There was kind of a issue..." he trailed off.

Ryou was relieved to see that Yugi was still wearing all his clothes, albeit completely soaked ones. "Oh...ok. I'll grab you a new one." He told his friend. He rushed out of the room and snatched a towel from the closet, he came back into the bathroom just a quickly and tossed the towel to Yugi, who caught it and nodded his thanks.

Ryou took a moment to wet the wash rag he had obtained from the drawer and then he left without another word and returned to his bedroom to find that Akeifa was now sitting on his bed, the corner of the thief's coat still held against his face. With extreme caution Ryou approached the thief; he kept his arms outstretched to show he meant no harm. When the thief made no objections and simply let Ryou near him, Ryou let out a sigh of relief.

"I just want to help." he murmured softly.

The kind words and soft tone fell on deaf ears. Akeifa didn't understand a word and he didn't trust the tone. He did however recognize the object in the demon's hand to be a wet rag, and the demon's intentions to help. He weighed the possibilities in his mind, and came to the conclusion that if the demon wanted to kill him he'd have done it already. While he still did not trust him, and he had the suspicion that Ryou was a demon of seduction, he allowed him to clean the wounds on his face.

Gentle hands touched Akeifa's face as the demon softly pried the thief's own hand away from the cat scratches. Akeifa complied and let the demon remove his hand, he sat quietly on the bed, his fingers gripping his feet, and his posture tense with nervousness. The demon was slow and careful as he ran the cloth along his face, wiping away the blood. The scratches weren't that bad and the bleeding had already slowed. When he had finished with the eye, the soft hands moved to Akeifa's nose and then his chin, cleaning each cut with care.

Under the watchful stare of the thief, Ryou worked as carefully as possible. He tried to keep his hands from shaking, even though the thief was being compliant and letting him clean his wounds, it didn't stop Ryou from feeling fear. At any moment the thief could get offended or feel threatened and then Ryou knew he would be in a world of hurt. Even if Akeifa would not kill him, it didn't stop him from beating the shit out of him.

Just as he was finishing his task Ryou's soft brown eyes met Akeifa's steel grey ones. For a moment their gazes held and the thief seemed to star straight into Ryou's soul, and that made Ryou feel vulnerable. Uneasiness swept over him and he broke their gaze turning his eyes down to his hands.

Akeifa watched as the demon took a step back, keeping its gaze cast down. It was as if the demon was showing him respect, something very unusual but Akeifa liked it. He got a thrill from being respected. And that demon's stare... those eyes had been so innocent; he had been unable to detect any malice or ill intention, just pure honest concern. Akeifa ceased his contemplating as the demon took yet another step back. He decided he didn't want his demon to leave and instead snatched his wrist, preventing him from getting farther away.

Ryou was shocked when the thief's strong hand suddenly clasped around his wrist and stopped his escape. He felt terror overwhelm him and he searched Akeifa's features for any clue as to what the thief wanted form him. "I-I-I... Don't hurt me... Please.." he stammered.

The demon's frightened pleas filled Akeifa's ears. In the second he had gripped his mirror's wrist, fear had appeared in those large brown eyes. Why was this creature so frightened of him? Disgust filled Akeifa, as he watched the demon's timidity. This creature was fooling him, it couldn't possibly be this scared. It was a demon for Ra's sake, what did it have to fear? "Thank you." he spat. He didn't want to thank the deceitful monster in front of him, but he felt compelled to do so anyway.

The words that the thief spoke were in Egyptian and Ryou failed to understand any of it. It could have been gratitude but frankly from the tone it made Ryou assume that the thief had just cursed at him. Which was fine. He hadn't really expected that much from the thief anyway. He knew Akeifa didn't trust him, and that didn't surprise Ryou at all. After all if he were in Akeifa's shoes, he wouldn't trust himself either. As soon as the thief released his arm, Ryou wasted no time fleeing the room.

Outside the door he spotted Yugi carrying Atem out of the bathroom. The Pharaoh was looking a royally as possible while wrapped in a Mickey Mouse and friends blanket. Ryou gave the two and odd looked and Yugi stopped to explain.

"His clothes are sort of dirty. I'm gonna see if I- Ouch!" Yugi winced painfully. "If I can't find him something to-Ah!-wear temporarily." Yugi grimaced and shifted his arms. "Could you mayb-ack! Clean up the bathroom for me. Sor-eek! about the mess! WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!" Yugi elbowed the Pharaoh in the side. This caused Atem to retaliate by striking him over the head quite painfully. "Frack!" Yugi cursed. "Fine! I'm going!" Summoning as much dignity as he could, the multi-color haired boy marched off towards his bedroom. Atem's gaze bore into Ryou, his eyes were full of hatred and scorn.

Ryou watched the scene still amazed he had kept a straight face the entire time. It appeared that Atem had not approved of Yugi's delay.

* * *

In Yugi's bedroom he carefully kneeled and let his yami sit on his bed. Atem took a moment to survey his surroundings, he was both confused and unimpressed by the objects and furniture scattered about the room. There was a cluttered feel as every flat surface seemed to have strange items placed atop them in no particular order. The bed he had been placed on was soft and springy but the cloth pattern was foreign to him. It seemed to be a rich and fancy pattern of exotic fish.

He watched as his pale skinned demon fished around in a drawer and withdrew several articles of clothing. The demon approached him once more and held out two pieces of clothing. One was a long robe like garment, it was an earthy red color, while the other was rather like really short pants. and it was blue. Atem just blankly stared at the clothes before turning his gaze to his demon. There were questions in his ruby eyes, a myriad of questions and no words to speak them.

"Clothes." Yugi spoke softly in Egyptian. He pushed the robe and boxers forward towards Atem. It took several minutes but finally the clothes were taken from his hands and Yugi turned away to give his yami privacy. He heard Atem say something in his own language, and he turned back around to find the Pharaoh dressed in the blue boxers and red robe. Atem was still seated on the bed trying his best to keep all his weight off of his injured leg. Ryou would have to rebind that leg, since the old makeshift cast had gotten wet during the bathroom fiasco. Atem ribs also needed rebinding, but that was something Yugi could do himself.

Yugi's eyes raked over the Pharaoh with complete lack of subtleness. The modern clothes really complimented Atem's bronzed skin, the red of the robe matching his burning ruby eyes. Yugi felt uncomfortable all of a sudden and he felt a shiver rake through his body. He attempted to cast down his eyes before he got scolded by his yami.

Atem did not miss the longing stare he had received. He also severely enjoyed the blush that now colored his demon's face. It appeared that his demon could get worked up quite easily and it made him curious. Half of the pharaoh wanted to put the demon in its place, show it who was in charge, who was its master. Another part of him held doubt. The longer he interacted with Yugi the less and less he seemed like a demon. In fact he hadn't seen anything demonic happen at all.

"Come."

Yugi heard his yami's baritone voice speak to him. It was simple Egyptian that even Yugi could comprehend. Just as he was told he stepped forward and kneeled before Atem.

Strong hands gripped Yugi's chin and forced him to look up. Violet connected with crimson as both their eyes met in a penetrating stare. There was a challenge in the other's eyes and it caused Yugi to rebel. He fixed Atem with just as severe a glare and refused to break eye contact. For a indefinite amount of time both of them just held the others gaze until finally Atem released Yugi's chin. He murmured several things that Yugi could not understand, and then he sat up.

"So courageous." his Yami murmured. Atem relaxed back on Yugi's bed and proceeded to close his eyes. Just as he was getting comfortable, a sharp protest filled the room.

"What do you think you are doing?" Yugi yelled. "That's MY bed!" the young college student placed his hands on his hips in a huff and stomped his foot. Atem gave him a unimpressed look and rolled over making himself more comfortable. "Something tells me you aren't going to share."

* * *

Sorry for the delay. I'm trying my best to have the chapters out in a timely manner. Its just kinda difficult. Please let me know what you think though. R&R please.


End file.
